RWBY: Backstage
by poundcake103
Summary: Set 6 years before the events of the original RWBY story line. Neo, 15 years old, is with a young man named Shamrock Scharf, 17 years old. Both of them are part of the Anti-Personel Agency and serves as A.P.A agents. Shamrock, being part of the agency since he was a kid cannot imagine another life. Neo, yearns for her independence, and to follow her heart.


**Backstage**

Chapter 1

If you were to take a trip from Vale to Vacuo you would usually have to take the Cross Remnant Transit System, a long well maintained train track that connects the two kingdoms. You would also be greeted with some of the most beautiful and breath-taking scenery that Remnant would have to offer. If you come from Vacuo and were making the trip to Vale, look out the window and the first scene you would see is an endless plain of golden sand. To some this might seem like a desolate area where no greenery grow, but take a look outside the window for a moment and try to appreciate the serene view. A vast golden desert, hills of sand, and the occasional mountain. Sometimes if you would look at the right moment you can some of the oasis's that dot the Vacuo desert. Here exotic trees and flowers grow around a fresh source of water, water so clear and clean it seems to almost glitter against the harsh sunset. But don't worry about the weather, you could enjoy the scenery from inside the air conditioned rooms of the luxury bullet trains that crosses through the land to Vale.

Inside, these moving suites contained any possible luxury you could dream of, from cable TV, a soft one person bed, and across the room is a cushioned bench with a mahogany table where you can eat your meals. You will be inside here with the same scenery until you reach the borders of the Kingdom of Vale where the scenery shifts from a beautifully exotic desert, to a relaxing valley forest. Looking out the window again, you will breeze past seemingly moving greenery. You could, if you take the trip around spring time, also see the beautiful pink-feathered trees, a tree that only grows in Vale. At night this forest greenery becomes blessed with starlight covering the night sky above. If you are able to close your eyes and block out the soft whisper that the train makes, you cold almost here the beowolves, horrible as they are, sing to the broken moon. The Cross Remnant Transit system boasts luxury, efficiency and safety, becoming one of the most used railway tracks in Remnant.

One train in particular is making the trip from Vacuo to Vale and has currently gone through the Vacuo dessert and is now enjoying the beautiful scenery of Vale. Inside one of the luxury rooms sits a young man wearing a black slim fit suit looking out at nighttime country side his face, it was obvious that he was only a teenager, about seventeen, but he carried with him an atmosphere of maturity. Everything about him, from the way he dressed, to the way he sits and smiles, screams formality, except for his hair which was a scattered brown mop, but oddly enough this complemented his whole attire making him appear boyishly handsome. Shamrock Scharf took a sip from the tea he just ordered, he was running out. He pressed the button calling for a cabin boy. The rooms in each cabin had a microphone where you could directly speak with the cabin, this Shamrock thought, was very convenient as he would never need to leave his room for the whole trip to Vale.

"Hello?"

"Yes this is Cabin A-24 requesting an order please."

"Yes sir what will you have?"

"Just another cup of tea, bring in extra sugar please, the last cup didn't have enough."

"Our apologies sir, will you have anything else."

"No thank you very much...actually can you delay that tea for a while I'll just be in an

urgent call, I don't want to be disturbed.

"Of course sir, just call back when you want the tea delivered."

Shamrock turned off the microphone and proceeded to bring out his cell phone to make a call. He was traveling to Vale in order to meet someone; he was worried if she got their on safely or worst, got their earlier than expected. When he dialed the number and waited for someone to answer the latter fear came true, she was their earlier.

"Where are you!"

"I thought I told you to be there tomorrow morning" replied Shamrock.

"You're not suppose to make a girl wait you know."

"I'll be there by tomorrow, just meet me up at the train station at the time I said we were SUPPOSED to meet."

"Yeah I'll be there, by the way, how'd you even find time for a vacation aren't you suppose to be on a job or something?"

"I'm on it, just book us in a hotel already, one room two separate beds, got it?"

"Ya, two separate beds, why, you afraid of sleeping beside me or something" said the voice with a teasing tone.

"Shut up and book the room, this trip is for you, you know."

"And I so love you for it."

"Heh, whatever, hey, see you tomorrow alright."

"See you tomorrow, bye"

Shamrock out his phone down and looked at his watch. The time read, eleven forty five in the evening. "Just a one more minute" Shamrock thought to himself. He got up and brought out a briefcase from under his bed. He laid down his briefcase on his bed and opened it, revealing a weapon, a bow and three arrows. The bow had a complex look to it. It was about half the size of Shamrock himself; the complexity of the bow came from the intricate design, the two arms of the bow almost looked like the sides of a sword. The arrows were another sight to behold. If the bow owed its intrigue to its beauty and complexity, the arrows were intriguing by itself because they looked so deadly. The arrow tip was large and was the color of bright silver. It had a piercing tip and along the sides of the arrow tip were smaller teeth. Without knowing anything about archery or its equipment a person can quickly tell that this is top quality equipment and whoever was using it knew exactly what to do with it.

Shamrock brought out the bow and one arrow and checked to make sure if everything was ready. He then proceeded to he window to open it all of a sudden letting in a flurry of night time wind. Shamrock sticked is head out the window and looked ahead of him. His train was going east to Vale, beside their train another train should appear in a few minutes heading west to Vacuo, where Shamrock just came from. He looked ahead and without even having to use his "eyes" was able to see the feint lights of a faraway train. Shamrock looked at his watch again, it should take exactly a minute and a half for the other train to come close to theirs. He looked up into the night sky and for a moment forgot about what he was doing. The night sky was exceptionally beautiful today, he thought to himself. The stars seem to act like street lights, illuminating everything above. The shattered moon stood their ominously. Shamrock never liked looking at the shattered moon it looked out of place with all the stars in the night sky, like someone went up their with a hammer and broke the original moon, if there was, into pieces.

Another train was about the cross paths with Shamrock's. This one still hasn't seen the golden dessert of Vacuole and had just recently left the train station at Vale three hours ago. Inside one of the cabins a business deal was taking place. This isn't so uncommon inside the trains of the Cross Remnant Transit System, business men have been making big deals inside these cabins for many years, the companies that operate these trains could even brag that their train cabins have become more important than offices of government officials. But tonight the Cross Remnant Transit System was unaware of what kind of deal was being made inside their cabins and who was the person in charge of this deal.

Christopher Schnee, a respected member of the Schnee family, coming from a good school, known for his great work etiquette, and most importantly smart, smart enough to be a the new branch manager of the Schnee company in Vacuo having fought, to what seemed to him, a hundred family members for the position. Christopher finally laid back in the cabin bench and breathed a hefty sigh of relief and accomplishment. "I finally did it" he thought to himself. "All those stupid cousins of mine trying to muzzle in on my fortune, ha, I'm the one who's gonna make it big. Yes sir Christopher Schnee is making it big and no one is stopping him."

"In summary, your mission is to stop him from making that phone call." Shamrock recalled all the details of his mission in his head. "Christopher Schnee a prominent member of the Schnee family, smart, rich, respectable, white hair, talks like he knows it all, your typical Schnee. Now the Schnee company hasn't done anything wrong exactly, but Christopher here hasn't been a good boy. He's been making deals with a terrorist organization down in Vacuole, giving them dust by the truck load. Our contacts say that these terrorists are planning to start a revolution inside Vacuole. Christopher is gonna make a deal at eleven forty six, he's gonna be taking a train from Vale to Vacuole. The deal will be done through his phone so while the meeting is underway he will be the only one in his room. His room in A-13, you know what to do Shamrock."

Christopher looked at his watch. The time read eleven forty four, two minutes until he makes the biggest deal of his life, a deal that would secure him billions. He pressed on the intercom and ordered a bottle wine ready with glass. He was so excited he couldn't control himself. He was jittering all over, not because he was nervous about making the deal, but simply couldn't wait to be rich and independent from his family. Christopher looked around the luxury cabin of the train. "Every day after this all my rooms are gonna be even better and even more prestigious." A couple months ago Christopher would never had imagined that he would be making deals with terrorists. He heard enough stories about the white fang to know that any group like that is nothing but bad business. After graduating from college at top of his class, Christopher was determined to live out his destiny as a Schnee which was usually a board position along with a two story mansion and luxuries that middle class citizens could never imagine. "But that stupid cousin Winter of mine just had to take everything away from me! Winter just had to be little miss perfect and ruin my plans. That bitch had to audacity to call me incompetent and demoting me from my board position in Atlas. I'll make her pay, soon, I'll have those Vacuole terrorists on my side and Winter is gonna have a real problem. I should probably do something about that little sister of hers to, she might grow up to be a big problem." Christopher didn't realize that his saliva was already dripping from his mouth while he was thinking about all this. When he thinks about these things Christopher loses himself in a frenzy. He realized this and wiped the saliva from his mouth and regained his formality, not as if the meeting was to be in person.

Shamrock went over to the intercom and called for the cabin boy. "Hello yes is is room A-24, can I please have my tea delivered to me now, thank you." Shamrock turned of the intercom and readied himself. He planted his feet flat on the ground and faced the open window of his cabin. He could feel the wind flowing straight in, dust particles going into his eyes. He put on his sunglasses as they were the only eyewear he had with him. He brought out his bow and raised it to eye level then knocked on the special armor piercing arrow. He took one good look at the night time scenery, it was really beautiful, he thought to himself again as he drew the bow all the way back. No one could see it but behind his sunglasses Shamrock's grey eyes suddenly widened and strained themselves. His vision flew out the window and suddenly he was outside the train looking down on Vale like a hawk in the sky.

He looked to his right and saw a train about to pass by in just a few seconds. He zoomed in and suddenly he was inside cabin room A-13 with his target, Christopher Schnee; Christopher had saliva dripping out of his mouth, "charming", Shamrock sarcastically thought. He then zoomed out and took a look at his surrounding as a satellite would, looking down from heaven and seeing two trains about to go side by side each other. He zoomed back into Christopher Schnee's cabin, he could see him tapping his foot, he looked nervous as hell. All of a sudden a cell phone rang, Christopher opened his phone and answered. "Hello, ya it's me, let's talk."

A few more seconds, Christopher was impatiently waiting for the call that would make him rich. His contact said that they would call him at exactly eleven forty six p.m. Christopher looked down at his watch and counted down the final ten seconds until his big score. As the second hand inched closer Christopher started to have second thoughts about the deal. "Is it really worth it, doing what I'm doing now? If anyone ever finds out about this I'm a dead man. They'll take away my house my money, no one will trust me anymore, my reputation as a business man would go straight to hell. Do I hate my family that much?" Almost as if reassuring him of the path he's taking or telling him that there is no turning back, Christopher's phone rings at exactly eleven forty six p.m. He hastily fumbles for his phone and puts it on his ear. "Hello, ya it's me, let's talk." Out of nowhere, jolting him back to reality, Christopher hears the sound of a train humming by, a glass window breaking, looking to his left, he could have sworn he saw a silver dot go straight at him.

He was back at his own cabin. Shamrock blinked a few times to remember where he was and to regain normal eye sight. He looked outside and once more felt the night time wind blast his face. He closed the window to stopping the wind, but he could still hear the train that had just passed by. He put his bow back into his briefcase and returned the luggage underneath his bed. Right as he placed the luggage underneath there was knock on the cabin door.

"Hello sir, your tea has arrived."

"Come in" Shamrock replied. The cabin boy opened the door and with him a delicious

looking hot cup of tea.

"Thank you very much" said Shamrock.

"The pleasure is all mine, oh and here's the sugar you ordered sir, will there be anything else?"

"No, everything seems fine thank you again."

With those words the cabin boy departed from the room leaving Shamrock alone. Shamrock removed his sunglasses and brought the tea up to his nose to smell the sweet aroma of the tea. He then placed sugar and milk to add a little sweetness to the tea. Looking out one more time outside his window, he took a sip of tea and smiled, satisfied that he could finally enjoy his vacation.

Neo just came out of the shower and wore a bath robe. The room was air conditioned, coming out of the warm steam bath felt like walking into a refrigerator. Last night after she got off the phone with Shamrock, she was able to find and book a five star hotel complete with every commodity a couple needs to enjoy their vacation. A huge room with one master size bed, a flat screen TV hanging of the wall, and a beautiful balcony overlooking all of Vale. Neo looked at the bed, blushed and giggled at the thought of Shamrock and how he would react. She knew she should've booked a room with two separate beds, but how could she resist seeing that innocent teenage face of his. Every time Neo see's Shamrock she always gets a bit annoyed at how composed he is about everything, the only time he ever acts flustered and kind of cute was when Neo teases him about "that thing." Shamrock would lose any sort of charm he had and turn bright and won't even turn to meet eyes with Neo.

Neo sat down on the bed and started blow drying her hair. "It's not that we're actually a couple" she thought, "I'm just playing that's all." In truth, Neo liked Shamrock in every possible way. To her, he was handsome, smart, funny, in occasion, and most importantly he was always there for her, a trait that Neo found rare in people. But Neo would never admit this to herself, she hated the thought of openly being with Shamrock and wondered if it would even be possible because of their "work". "Work" she thought as she continued to work on her hair, "it always seems to pop up at the wrong time." Neo was only fifteen, two years younger than Shamrock, but already both of them had a full time job. Sometimes Neo would wonder if she and Shamrock could ever have a happy and relaxing life if they quit; no, most likely not, they would be dead, and if it wasn't for their job they wouldn't have met in the first place. Still, she had this moment, this three week vacation with Shamrock in the city of Vale, her favourite city in Remnant. She finally finished drying herself and fixing her hair, she grabbed the remote, opened the TV to whatever channel was on and proceeded to change clothes. The TV was on the morning news.

"Last night Christopher Schnee,the branch manager of the Schnee corporation in Vacuo, was found dead inside his train cabin." Neo glanced at the news. "Reports indicate that Christopher Schnee was murdered, the glass window of his cabin window was shot open and Mr. Schnee was found with an arrow lodged in his head. Police are currently investigating the case and could only say to us that whoever killed Mr. Schnee was a professional, being able to precisely fire an arrow at his target who was on a moving train."

Neo finished changing, she wore a bright pink blouse with a purple skirt and a floral white wool sweater. Looking at the mirror she felt slightly exposed, preferring to wear her suit, but she admittedly thought, "I do look cuter in this." Neo looked at the TV one more time the program had changed from breaking news to a morning interview of some celebrity. She was glad that Shamrock was able to finish before getting to Vale. It would have been annoying if their vacation got cut short because of him getting called out. Still, it felt eerie that right after she talked to him over the phone Shamrock was able to pull of something like that. It was cool knowing he probably took the shot as the trains were side by side each other, but at the same time it was scary how good Shamrock was at doing his "job."

Neo walked out onto the hotel room balcony. The view was beautiful. The city of Vale was below her and the sky today was exceptionally bright and blue. She felt the wind brush her face oh so gently and couldn't wait to spend the next three weeks in this city. Even if she and Shamrock weren't a couple you would be wrong not to call them best friends. The two of them did everything together, from choosing out what clothes to wear, to buying an apartment. Neo and Shamrock were inseparable. To Neo, Shamrock was her cool silent guardian, always keeping her safe. He also acted as some sort of emotional and mental support, Neo would have broken down many times if it wasn't for Shamrock always being there. She couldn't remember when she started having feeling for him, "not that I have any", she thought to herself. Neo looked at the clock inside the room, the time was ten fifteen, and she was suppose to meet Shamrock at the train station fifteen minutes ago. "Just a few more minutes", Neo whispered to herself, "He's not going anywhere and I'm kinda enjoying the moment."

"I'm gonna kill that girl" Shamrock whispered. He's been waiting at the Vale Central Train Station for one whole hour now. He told Neo to pick him up at ten o'clock, it was now eleven and Shamrock has been sitting at a bench with all his luggage waiting for Neo. But still its not like he was dying. Sometimes Shamrock enjoyed being left alone to observe his surroundings. For the past hour he has been watching every person that has walked by him and tried to make up a story for every one of them.

A few minutes ago a young girl, probably a student about thirteen years old, looked like she was waiting for someone to come out of train. She had this frantic and nervous look on her face the whole time she waited, which was just about fifteen minutes. She kept tapping her foot on the ground and from time to time she would take a bite from her fingernails. Shamrock even noticed the beads of sweat falling down from her forehead, "well it is pretty hot today", he thought. He invented a story of how this girl was waiting for her father to come down from a train. In his story the girl was a out to graduate the next week and had been excitingly waiting for her dad who said he would come. But his dad would never come, he was in Atlas with his mistress and couldn't care at all about his daughter. It was a sad depressing story, but these were the type that always came up on Shamrock's imagination.

The station was now quieter than before. Aside from some strays walking around he was all alone. The walls and ceiling of the platform were made of glass and it situated a top of Vale. Here, sitting on a bench by himself the sun gleamed at his eyes. He put on his sunglasses and started to fall asleep.

Shamrock was just about to black out until he felt a familiar poke on his forehead. "Yo, did I make you wait long" a voice asked him. Still keeping his eyes closed Shamrock replied.

"Neo, I told you to get here by ten o'clock."

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry I overslept."

Shamrock gave out a big sigh and opened his eyes. He was surprised to see Neo wearing casual clothes, he was used to seeing her wear her white flamboyant suit. It was awkward looking at her wearing something so plainly normal yet so oddly cute on her. But still, there were some things that Neo always kept the same. She never dyed her hair another color, always keeping it a half-half between brown and pink, and always carried around her umbrella. "She wouldn't be Neo without it would she" Shamrock thougt. Still, seeing Neo wear a blouse, skirt and a cute wool sweater was a nice change and a welcoming sight.

"What are you staring at" Neo playfully asked.

"No..nothing you just looked different today."

"How different?"

Neo was close to laughing, Shamrock was making that shy kid face and couldn't even look at her straight in the eye. Shamrock removed is glasses and looked the other way.

"I guess you look cuter." Shamrock replied.

The answer took Neo by surprise, normally Shamrock wouldn't say something like that and instead just blush and keep quiet. It was Neo's turn to blush and Shamrock caught on to her. Shamrock giggled at the sudden loss of boldness from his friend. Neo was always the one teasing her, it felt good for him to finally say something back and put her in the awkward position, but Neo would 't allow herself to remain seated in the metaphorical chair of embarrassment for too long.

"You think so, I..I..picked it out just for you Shaun" said Neo, while acting as innocent as possible.

Shamrock resume his seat in the metaphorical chair of embarrassment. He knew that Neo was playing with him, seeing just how long he can last. He sensed a battle coming, but wouldn't give in so easily. He swallowed his pride and tried to act as childly romantic as possible.

"Wow, thanks, it really looks beautiful on you, it's a really welcoming sight to see you wear that after coming all the way from Vacuo to see you." replied Shamrock.

"Goddammit, he's not giving up, now I'm the one blushing and everything" Neo thought to herself, but still, she would 't give up; she wouldn't allow Shamrock to beat her to submission; teasing and making fun of him was her forte. She sat down beside Shamrock on the bench, leaned on his shoulder and said...

"You know last night I couldn't sleep. I was so excited about seeing you and kept thinking of all the things we could do together."

"Same here, Neo, on the way here the train trip was so lonely without you. We spend so much time working together I never really realized how much I would miss you the second you left."

"Hehe, don't worry you're with me now, I know what you must have been thinking of on your way here and don't worry we'll get there soon?"

"What?" Shamrock suddenly said. Neo slowly leaned in to Shamrock's face. Her face was blushing red and was about to kiss Shamrock on the lips. "Just how long can you keep this up Shaun" Neo thought. She was close enough for Shamrock to smell her sweet peach scented perfume. His eyes, he wished that for a moment he didn't have such good eyes, he could see Neo's lips slowly go towards him. What's more is that he could see underneath Neo's blouse. Shamrock's face became red as a tomato. Finally he gave up, grabbed Neo's shoulder and pushed her back. He was sweating as if he had just run a marathon, his temperature was so high you would think that he had a fever. Shamrock started to take deep breaths as if the whole time he was talking to Neo he was holding his breath; now that he looks back on it he probably was holding his breath.

Neo first smiled and then broke out to pure laughter. She was laughing so hard that she fell to the ground crying. When she looked at Shamrock, he was blushing all over and had a miserable embarrassed look on his face. Seeing that expression only made her laugh even more. To Neo, what made it even more hilarious was that he actually tried to talk back and embarrass her.

"Neo, you can stop now."

"It's...it's too funny, you were all like, I guess you look cuter and everything, haha." Neo replied while laughing all over the floor.

"Neo please I'm trying to forget it already."

"Oh my god please, please, you have to talk to me like that again someday."

"Never, I'll never try again, I am so sorry for trying against you."

"Damn right you should be."

Neo suddenly stood up and regained her composure, but it was obvious from her smile that she could break out laughing again anytime soon.

"Anyway" said Neo, "get up, come on let's dump your stuff at the hotel and rest a bit."

"Ya, I think I'll just sleep this afternoon or something."

"Whaaa, come on, I wanted to go out with you and go shopping.

"You're making me want to sleep even more."

"Fine fine no shopping, but don't just sleep the whole day.

"I won't, come on let's just go to our hotel room.

Neo and Shamrock walked side by side as they made their way to the hotel. If you would look at them from a third person point of view they would seem like a couple. Neo had a wide smile on her face the whole way back and kept pointing out anything that interested her. Shamrock, carrying all his luggage which made up of his suitcase and a stroller bag, smiled at her every time she looked his way. The Vytal festival was only two weeks away, Vale was in full celebration mode as everyone was preparing for the celebration. Shamrock noticed all the hunters walking around weapons in tow, they were scouting for their competition and trying to show off their gear, which for both Shamrock and Neo, was a stupid idea. Both of them attended the Vytal festival last year; when they were out scouting for their opponents they never brought out their weapons, choosing to keep them a secret.

Neo happily remembered last year when she was part of the Vytal festival with Shamrock. It was one of the only times hat Neo ever felt like a regular huntress. She didn't have to think about her job and only focused on winning the festival, not as if she could have actually won. Neo was better than most hunters her age and Shamrock was even better, but their "work" kept them from attracting too much attention.

Last year, Neo made it all the way to the quarter finals, beating any one in her way with her outstanding acrobatic fighting style. The quarter finals then was a free for all between ten people where four people would be chosen to move on to the semi-finals. Neo remembered how well she performed: two hunters instantly went for her right as the horn sounded, she easily maneuvered around their strikes without so much as breaking a sweat. She knocked them both down each with one chop to the back of their necks. She was about to continue and find another target, but then she got hit by an explosion. To be exact everyone was hit by an explosion, everyone but Shamrock, who backed of from the initial fighting at the start and fired nine explosive arrows once everyone was pre-occupied in a fight. It was easy for Shamrock after that, no one could get close to him without getting hit by an arrow. Neo came the closest, blocking every shot with her umbrella, but eventually Shamrock found a blind spot where he was able to shoot a paralyzing arrow that took Neo down. Neo wasn't able to move forward in the tournament, but Shamrock was and made it all the way to the finals until he on purposely lost. But still, he became famous for winning the Vytal festival quarter finals free-for-all without having to move his feet, staying only at one spot firing arrow after arrow. That was the last time Neo was in Vale, now she was glad that she wasn't entering the tournament and could simply enjoy a vacation.

"Two APA agents have been confirmed, they are currently in Havanna Plaza, western district of the city. They are making their way to their hotel, judging from their pace, they should get their at about eleven fifty." A mysterious voice was talking to his phone while looking on at Neo and Shamrock.

"Affirmative, should we take action now" another voice questioned from the other side of the line.

"Negative, one of them just came out of the train and probably has his weapon. The other one could very well be armed, I don't want to take the chance."

"Roger that, keep following them,we will move out on your signal, over and out."

"Neo" asked Shamrock in a grim tone.

"Yes" Neo giggly replied.

"Didn't I tell you to get two separate beds!"

The two of them had finally arrived at their hotel room after making their way through the city of Vale. The whole way Neo was anticipating Shamrock's reaction to the hotel bed and she wasn't disappointed when they finally arrived. This was exactly the kind of reaction Neo wanted from Shamrock: flustered and embarrassed. She was able to control her laughter, but gave of a disturbing grin.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find a hotel room that had two separate beds."

"That is probably the most obvious lie you've ever told me."

"Hehe, yeah it is."

Shamrock was feeling slightly annoyed, but oddly enough he was used to it by now. This was just another one of Neo's pranks. "We'll deal with it later tonight, I'm gonna take a bath and let's have lunch outside" said Shamrock. "Yay!" Neo cheerfully replied.

Shamrock went to the bathroom, undressed from his suit, then took a shower. "Aside from the bed, Neo picked a pretty good hotel" he thought. After taking a bath he changed to the clothes that he brought with him to the bathroom. They were just casual clothes, a red button collared shirt, black jeans, and sneakers. It was weird seeing Neo war casual clothes, but for Shamrock it was even more strange to see himself wearing casual clothing. Looking at the mirror was like looking at a whole different person. Upon leaving the bathroom, Neo took a good look at him.

"Wow you look...dashing" she commented.

"Thanks, I picked it out just for you."

"Let's not start again okay, anyway I know this great restaurant just around the block that serves awesome seafood, we should go there and everyth..."

Neo didn't finish her sentence as she saw Shamrock sheath a knife on his belt.

"Hey..can you not bring that" she timidly asked.

"I can't bring my bow around, it's too big."

"Yeah, but come on this is a vacation, I don't want to be armed and ready all the time."

"But you bring you're bringing your umbrella with you."

"It's a fashion statement! and seeing carry around a knife just puts me on edge, like we're actually going to a fight."

In truth, Shamrock was always anticipating a fight, but Neo was right, they should be enjoying their vacation. "Fine, fine, I won't bring it" he said.

"Thanks Shaun."

Neo and Shamrock went out of the hotel and went to the seafood restaurant that Neo was mentioning. It was a good restaurant and both of them spent a good two hours eating and talking about anything that came to their minds. Shamrock wouldn't openly admit it, but he had a great time relaxing with Neo, he always does. While eating, Neo kept talking about fashion, movies, and books that she likes. Shamrock always remained quiet whenever Neo would start talking, there was no room for him to talk. Sometimes he would say something, but he was satisfied just watching Neo be happy.

They left the restaurant at about two in the afternoon and walked aimlessly outside side by side. "So where do you want to go now" asked Shamrock."

"I was thinking maybe we could stop by at Roman's place."

"Neo, you know I hate Roman."

"Come on, he was super nice to us the last time we were here. Remember he even let us go into Junior's club for free and everything."

"Not to mention he was a flamboyant creep who kept trying to make a move on you."

"Says the one who said I was all he was thinking about on the way here, besides I'm sure he was just playing around."

"First, please forget about that, and second, fine we'll go see him. But can we please bot stay too long."

"Don't worry, we'll only stay a few minutes then after wards you can have me all to yourself. I heard there's a new amusement park in Vale, we can go there."

Shamrock kept quiet when Neo said he can have her all to himself. It's true that he wanted to spend time with her and only her, but she didn't have to say it like that. Another matter was Roman, a gangster about their age. Shamrock and Neo met him last year when they were in Vale for the Vytal festival. They met him while they were out one night at a cafe, a couple of older gangsters were roughing up Roman outside the cafe. Neo and Shamrock went outside and helped Roman out, while sending four gangsters to the hospital. Roman was forever grateful for what they did and for the rest of their time in Vale Roman always sought to hang out with them. Roman at first came out as an okay guy to Shamrock, he was used to seeing young street thugs like him in any city and actually welcomed them with open arms. It was when Roman started hitting on Neo that he started to notice all the little annoying things about him: like his self-patronizing attitude, his cockiness, and most especially, that mascara he was always wearing. But Neo liked him anyway and Shamrock was forced to get along with him.

Neo and Shamrock took a cab to visit Roman. He lived at the southern district of the city making walking to him all too tiring. The southern district of the city of Vale was notoriously known for harboring criminals of all kinds and Roman wasn't an exception. Roman was just an up coming gangster the last time they met, Shamrock wondered how far he had gone in the criminal ladder over the past year. When there cab reached the borders of the southern district, Neo and Shamrock were dropped off. As the cab left, they found themselves alone in the grey and desolate streets of the southern district. Shamrock and Neo were oddly comfortable around these types of places; they were familiar with the scary atmosphere and actually welcomed it.

"So, do you know where he's staying?" asked Shamrock?

"Yeah, I've been keeping in touch with him since we left Vale last year." replied Neo slightly annoyed by the response, Shamrock simply continued asking.

"Whatever, so where does he live?"

"To the left, a couple of blocks away from here, just follow me."

Shamrock followed Neo, staying a few just a few steps behind her. He didn't have anything to say, he already didn't like the idea of seeing Roman again and had decided to just remain silent and let Neo have a good time. Behind Neo, Shamrock could see how happy Neo was. She was walking with a half skip in every step and could hear her humming peacefully. He had to admit it to himself, she looked really cute skipping along with her umbrella and seeing that kinda made the whole visit to Roman worth it. Shamrock smile and looked at the ground the whole way until Neo stopped spoke up.

"You know, Shaun I want you to have a good time too." Neo said without turning around

"I'm having a good time don't worry about it", replied Shamrock

Neo turned around and Shamrock saw the troubled face she had on her. Neo would sometimes make this face to tease him but this time he knew it was genuine.

"I'm being honest here Neo, maybe not so much about seeing Roman, but I was looking forward to this vacation for the past month."

"It's just that you've been kinda quiet the whole day I was nervous you were doing all this just for me." said Neo without meeting Shamrock in the eye.

Neo was embarrassed saying stuff like this, but she really felt worried for her friend.

"You know that I tend to keep quiet, but it's just who I am. I'm fine Neo."

Neo looked at her friend again and could tell that he was being honest, it was just her who was being nervous around him. She wanted this vacation to be one hundred percent perfect.

"Okay, just tell me if you want to do anything, alright?"

"Can we leave and just go to that amusement park you were talking about."

With that Neo smiled again at Shamrock. "No" she merrily replied. "We'll just say hi to Roman, tell him we're here and we'll be on our way. Are you jealous of Roman or something"

"Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"I don't know, it's just that he always hits on me and I just got to wondering if maybe you were just a bit..."

"Turn around and just keep walking."

Neo didn't push it any further, she turned around, resumed her humming with a smile.

It took about fifteen minutes or so before Neo stopped in front of an old looking five story apartment complex. Throughout the way, the southern district streets were eerily empty, aside from the occasional thug walking by, checking them out to see if they could be robbed. The answer to at question would be a flat no, both Neo and Shamrock would return them a look that clearly says, "We will not hesitate to kill you if you try." Neo did this with a psychopathic like smile, while Shamrock just stared at them with a blank but overwhelming gaze.

Roman's apartment building didn't look special in the sense that it looked like an abandoned building, which blended perfectly with the southern district. "Are you sure he lives here" asked Shamrock, wondering how this place was even inhabitable. Neo didn't reply, even she was skeptical if Roman, or if anyone else could possibly live in this place. "Well, that's what his text message says." They walked inside and the apartment complex continued to be amazed by how the apartment building's interior was just as beautiful as its exterior. You could see all the way up to the top floor, especially if you were Shamrock. The building was arranged in a rising spiral, each floor having eight rooms, two on each of the buildings four sides. Inside, the brick walls of the building were crumbling and dust particles were spread all over the cracked wooden floor. Occasionally you could see a rat just run by at the corner of your vision. "He lives on the fifth floor, the top-most, room 5-3" said Neo while looking up at the long flight of stairs they would have to take to get there.

The two friends silently went up the flights of stairs, on the way hearing some shouting coming from the other rooms. Neo was very uncomfortable with everything around her. A dirty apartment, loud and vulgar neighbours, and an atmosphere that was just flat out depressing. But she was the one who suggested they go here and decided to blank out her surroundings until they get to Roman's room. Upon reaching the fifth floor Neo was panting heavily, though her job and with her being a huntress keeping her physically fit, she hated any physical activity that had no excitement and just made her tired no matter how mundane the task was. They finally found Roman's room and Shamrock took the initiative to knock on the door. The two of them waited outside the door.

"Who's there" shouted a voice from the other side of the door."

"Roman is that you" asked Neo.

"I asked first, who are you", the voice, obviously Roman's, shouted even louder.

"Well he hasn't lost his charm" Shamrock outwardly remarked.

"It's Neo and Shaun, last year, remember the Vytal festival", replied Neo to Roman.

They hear the sound of lock chains being unlocked from the other side followed by the sound of a turning door knob. Roman greeted them first with ambivalence, not recognizing who they were at first. Roman looked like a mess in front of them at the door. He was wearing a stained white T-shirt, stained with what, no one could tell. He also wore a pair of torn, blue, denim jeans. His orange hair was a mess and it would seem that he hadn't shaved for a while. He topped of his look with a cigarette in his mouth. He looked at the two supposed stranger for a few seconds, their faces seemed recognizable enough and Roman was struggling to remember who they were. He got a glimpse of the short girl, and her folded up umbrella and suddenly realized who they were. His expression suddenly changed to utmost excitement, and with his cigarette still in his mouth joyfully greeted them.

"Shaun, Ice cream, you're back I haven't seen you since last year. What've you two been up in to that you guys couldn't find time to visit me?"

"Ice cream", Neo asked with an irritated tone.

"We've been in school like good kids Roman, can we come inside", asked Shamrock.

Roman ushered them in as formally as possible, to make himself look like a joke. Roman's apartment looked rather clean despite what the complex as a whole would imply. It was small, the door brought them into Roman's living room which was separated from his kitchen by a counter. His living room had a couch on one side facing a small TV. In between the couch and TV was a coffee table that had an assortment of alcohol on it. Behind the TV was a window, that offered a beautiful view of the wall belonging to the building next door. The kitchen was just as modest. Being separated from the living room b a counter it was just big enough to fit in three people, but it was complete with a small fridge, a microwave and a couple of, overhead drawers. Neo and Shamrock took a seat on the couch while Roman went over to the fridge to pick up some weak beer for his two visitors.

"Soda only for me Roman", exclaimed Shamrock who noticed the beers.

"Same", Neo simultaneously replied.

"Aren't you two a model of good adolescence", commented Roman, but he obeyed, returned the beers to the fridge and brought out two bottles of soda.

He handed the drinks to both of them and brought out a plastic chair to sit on, which was hiding at the corner of the room.

"So what brings you two back to Vale", asked Roman in an attempt to break the silence.

"We're on vacation, me and Shaun are gonna spend three weeks here just chilling out", replied Neo enthusiastically.

"Not joining that Vytal tournament this year?"

"Nah, we didn't put our names in anymore, too tiring and all that."

"Well that's nice", remarked Roman happily, "Now you two get to spend more time with me."

"Oh sweet God" Shamrock thought and sighed.

The two of them finished their sodas, talked to Roman a bit more, but decided it was time to leave and go to the amusement park. Roman was disappointed at the short amount of time they to spend with each other and thought of an idea.

"Hey want to go somewhere else that's fun" asked Roman with a slight tone of malice and intrigue.

"Roman", said Shamrock, "we've got to go sorry and but we might be get to the amusement park when it's dark already."

"I know, I know, that's why I have an idea that's just as fun as going to that new amusement park. Come on I haven't seen you two in ages."

Shamrock was just about to say no again, this time in a more assertive tone, but Neo gently touched his hand and it was enough to stop his train of though.

"We'd love to go", said Neo.

"Yes!", exclaimed Roman in a celebrate tone. "I'll just change a bit and we'll be on our way."

Roman quickly went to the door on the other side of the living, opposite that of the kitchen. Shamrock wiped his forehead as if he had a headache, which he was about to have. Neo looked at him apologetically. She felt bad for Roman if they just left him after all, he looked so excited when he realized who they were in the front door. She knew that Shamrock didn't like him, and she promised him that after this he could have her all to herself, but still, Neo didn't want to hurt Roman. Besides, Roman did promise them something fun so maybe in the end Shamrock would also have a good time. They spent the next few minutes in silence until Roman broke it as he came out of the door.

He changed his dirty clothes to more darker apparel, like he was going on a heist or something. He wore a plain black T-shirt, dark black jeans, black sneakers, and even had black gloves on. Shamrock didn't like how he was dressed, "did Roman invite to do commit a robbery or something", he thought. True enough that's exactly what Roman intended, but kept the details to himself for now until they got to the place. Roman ushered the apartment complex and brought them to his run down, shabby car. They squeezed in, Roman taking the driver's seat, while Shamrock and Neo took the back.

They drove a good few hours in pure silence until Roman thought he was going to mentally explode from the tense atmosphere.

"So...you two are probably wondering where we're going" he said, trying to act as cool and casual as possible. Only silence replied to him.

"Well... To be frank, we're going to police encampment."

That statement got Shamrock and Neo's attention and both of them looked at the back of the driver's seat. Roman continued and said..

"...and we're going to steal one of their police choppers."

The statement was received with utter silence, which was probably the best result now that Roman thought about it, but it didn't last long. After a few seconds of recollection both Shamrock and Neo looked at each and nodded their heads. "What the hell are you thinking", they both shouted in unison.

"It's gonna be fun and we're gonna return it, so technically we're not stealing it, we're only borrowing it" explained Roman.

"You're talking about...taking police property, we could all go to jail if we're caught" said Shamrock.

"If we're caught" emphasized Roman.

"Even I think this is stupid Roman, we should't do this" said Neo in a gentle tone.

"The fact that you two haven't jumped of my car is a clear sign of some hidden desire to go along with my plan" sarcastically remarked Roman.

Shamrock gave out a heavy sigh, "Roman just stop the car, you've wasted our time enough."

Roman didn't stop the car and instead sped up. "Look all we're gonna do is take the chopper for a spin, I want to show you two Vale while its in sunset while we're in the air. Trust me it looks really beautiful."

Shamrock looked closely at Roman from the rear view mirror. He even activated his "eyes" so he could see every little detail on his face. From there he could tell that Roman was't lying and that his intentions were just as he said. He gave the idea some thought. The idea was stupid, to steal a police chopper just to take a look at some sunset scenery, Shamrock alone could do that with his "eyes" so why would he even consider it, then he took a look at Neo. She probably hasn't seen it yet and didn't have the luxury of looking at it any time she wants like he does. It would be exciting he admitted, sneaking into a police compound and stealing their chopper. Him and Neo, even with Roman lagging behind, could do it easily, they've done hundreds of missions like this with even harder security systems. They weren't even stealing it, they were, as Roman said, just borrowing it. He didn't know why he was having such a one-sided argument with himself, it was clear what he wanted to do. He gave Neo a glance and saw the look on her face, the face of excitement that she was trying to hide. "Fine, let's go"

Neo couldn't believe the words coming out of Shamrock's mouth. She originally objected to the idea because she didn't want it to like she was taking Roman's side, but she really wanted to "borrow" that police chopper. She'd seen so many sunsets in her life already, but this time she was going to see it with Shamrock with her while on vacation. This, to her, gave it all the meaning in the world necessary for her to go along with Roman's plan. She also hated the thought of just spending the afternoon in some amusement park and knew that Shamrock also thought the same. She was so happy with what they were going to do, but even happier knowing that Shamrock was on board for it.

Roman now drove faster with his friends renewed enthusiasm. They got to the police compound right as the sun was about to set.

"Come on, the chopper should be in the middle of the compound."

"Just how are you planning to get it in the first place", asked Shamrock.

"Uhh we sneak inside, get in the chopper and fly it out, there are only a few guards in the police compound anyway so it'll be easy."

"They'll send other choppers once they see us you know."

"Relax, Shauny my boy, we're only taking her up for a few minutes. We're not goi g on a full aerial chase if that's what you're thinking."

"And how do you plan on returning it, they'll be down here waiting for us when we do."

"I'll land it somewhere else."

"How is that returning it?"

"I'll leave a note telling them where it is."

At this point there was no real turning back and Shamrock was committed to help in this plan no matter how stupid it was. Neo was excited and didn't care about any of the details. They quickly left the car and made their way inside the compound.

Roman wasn't lying, the compound practically had no guards. All three of them were able to make a hole in the fence and walk inside with no one knowing. They proceeded to go further into the middle of the compound without meeting any guards. The relative ease of the plan bothered Shamrock, who was ready to face a whole squad of policemen. Neo and Roman were both calm, Neo was even humming a happy tune. They reached the middle of the compound so easily that it took them only about five minutes. "I can't believe security here is that bad", Shamrock thought and sighed. There really was a chopper in the middle and Roman waved them forward.

"I'll be taking the pilot's seat, you two lovers just relax and enjoy the sightseeing."

"When did we say we were together, and can you even fly that thing", asked Shamrock.

"He probably does Shaun or he wouldn't had even suggested it. Thank you so much Roman" said Neo.

Roman only replied with a wink that made Neo blush and Shamrock angry, but he obeyed and they went forward to the chopper. Roman went to the other side and got on the pilot's chair, while Neo and Shamrock got on the passenger's seat. Roman started all e needed systems and sooner or later the chopper's propellers were spinning and they were ready to take off. Suddenly a voice came shouting at them. "Hey what are you guys doing, get out of there now", yelled an angry police man, who was running trying to catch up to them. "Take us up", shouted Shamrock to Roman. Roman pulled the lever as hard as he can and took them higher and higher up into the air, all the while Neo was just laughing, cheering and having a good time.

Roman wasn't lying when he said the view was great. When they were in the air, all three of them could see every part of Vale that seemed to glow from the orange and yellow sunset. Even Shamrock was impressed by how everything looked. Neo on the other hand was absolutely awe struck with the view and anyone could tell from how she looked and kept saying "Wow." "Enjoying the view you two", asked Roman from the pilot's intercom, but he knew they were. Neo looked at all of Vale like how a child looked at his new toy. Everything was so beautiful from up in the air, Neo felt like she was a bird floating high above the sky. Everything seemed so small, but Neo knew that up close they were much bigger, and this idea made the whole flight even more amazing.

Shamrock looked at Neo's face and couldn't help but stare, thankfully she was too busy looking at the horizon to notice how dumbfounded he was. The sunset light seemed to kiss her face illuminating those bright eyes of hers. The wind, though strong as they were, seemed only to be brushing her hair making her look like one of those models you see on hair commercials. Her happy child like face made her all the more cuter to Shamrock, who was smiling at her happiness.

"Shaun, you're so unfair" Neo said happily while looking out into the distance.

"Why's that", he asked.

"You get to see this view anytime you want with those "eyes" of yours, it makes me jealous just thinking about it."

"It ain't the same without you."

Neo was caught off guard with the reply, but could tell from the tone that it was genuine. Maybe he didn't mean it that way, or maybe he did, but either way, Neo's whole face turned red. She turned around to meet Shamrock's face which had on a gentle, heart warming smile. Neo could've cried at how sweet the moment was, but wasn't going to give Shamrock the satisfaction of. She just returned a smile of her own.

Shamrock rarely see's Neo cry and when he did before he held her in his arms until she calmed down. Now, seeing Neo cry became one of the most beautiful things he had seen the whole day; her tears of joy were as cute as can be. "Thanks Roman", he thought, "I owe you this one."


End file.
